Aerial navigation.



J. MEANS.

AERIAL NAVIGATION.

APPLIUATION FILED APILG, 1910.`

984,147. .I Patented Feb.r14,1911.

v /2 3 ,/2/ l 4I Y/ /k i" F.: 6)/ J 3! UNITED tsTATns PATENT ornion.

nuns MEANS, .or Bos'roN, cHUsnTTs.

.AERIAL NAVIGATION.

Specication `of .Letters 'Patent Patented Feb, 14, 1911.

Application led'Aprl 8, 1910. Serial No. 558,755:

To all whom 'it may concern: D Be it known that I, JAMES MEANS, acitizen of the United States,l and a resident of Boston, in the countyof Suffolk and State 'purposes and such vertical rudder has beenarranged either infront or in the rear of the machine in line with thelongitudinal .axis thereof, so, that like the rudder ofa ship, it may.Vperform its 4function with .a minimum speed retardation.

- vrIhe object of the present invention' is toprovide an improvedapparatus under the control of the operator for turning orfor tending toturn the machine to port or to starboard, said apparatus accomplishing4.substantially4 thesame result as the vertical rudder ofthe prior art,but accomplishing it in a,radically-different,,more positiveand moreeffective manner.-

For effecting the foregoing'zobject I emp loy a pair of brakes orspeed-retarding de-v vlces disposed preferably near the lateral eXtremities of the machine 'and preferably arranged symmetrically withrespect to the longitudinal axis thereof. Each me'rnber of the pair ofbrakes is normally in ino lerative position and is arranged to be putinto operative or braking position by va suitable controllingdevice'which may' be -manually loperated and which preferably isso'constructed that only one 'of said brakes is brought into' brakingposition at a given instant of time. The effectof bringing one V of saidbrakes into operative position 'is toI retard that side of the machineon which" said brake is located, `so that the machine as a lWhole willturn or tend to turn in a Isubstantially horizontal plane towardy thatside.

:The drawings whichaccompany and form a part, 'of this specilicationillustrate the principle of my invention; but it will be `understoodthat many modifications may be made in the apparatus selected forillustration Without departing from said principle'.

In the drawings-Figure 1 represents a plan view of an aeroplane4embodying my improvements. .Fig 2 is a plan view of a modification.Fig. 3' is an elevation of the machine shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a planView of one form of brake or speed-retarding device.

In the drawings which I have selected for illustrating my invention, 1,1 represent respectively the upper and lower supporting planes of anaeroplane flying machine which may be provided with any suitable meansfor maintaining lateral stability, such for example as the lateralrudders -2 2', which by suitable mechanism may be rotated in oppositedirections-about the axes 3 3', as more fully described in the Britishpatent to Boulton No. 392,'dated August 4:, 1868, or the little Wings orailerons 4 4 which, `by suitable mechanism maybe rotated downward aboutthe axes 5, 5 :1t-the rear of the machine, as more fully explained inthe British patent to Harte No. 1469, dated May 21, 1870. 'l

Mounted on suitable standards 11, 11', secured to some appropriate partof the machine and located preferably near the lateralextremitiesthereof,V are the braking members or speed-retarding-devices6 6. These devices which, as shown, are preferably arrangedvsymmetrically With.respect to the longitudinal Vaxis of the machine arerepresented in the present instance as lumbrellalike arrangementsconsisting .of a suitable fabric 6' secured to the frame-Work 7, whichin turn is connected by the ribs 8 to the barrel l0 surrounding the rod9. 13, 13passaroundthe pulleys or guides 12, 12, through an opening 16in the fabric 6 and are secured, respectively,to the barrel 10. Theinner vends of the cords are attached to some suitable controllingdevice, such forv example as the lever 14 mounted on theV standard 15andthey are so arranged that when the lever is Vin its vertical position,

- both are taut and each' member' of the. pair `braking devices/erto theof brakes is closed. y

I do not limit'myself to the shape of the particular control deviceherein described.

The operation is as followsz-Asspming' that the machine is traveling inthe direction of the arrow and that it is desired to The coi-ds turn themachine in a substantially horiaontal plane toward the let,-in otherwords, tov steer the machine to port,-the operator will throw the lever14 to the position shown in Fig. 3, so that the brake 6 is opened, -(thewind pressure meanwhile keeping the brake 6 closed) and the retardingeffect of the exposedl` 4surface of the brake 6, which is in operativeor braking position, will then cause the lefthand side of the machine totravel more slowly than the righthand side, so thatthe machine as awhole will turn toward the left, provided there be no other forcesoperating on the machine to prevent suchturning. During the operation ofthe laterall rudder 2, 2 orthe ailerons 4, 4 for the purpose ofcorrecting sidewise rolling, itV is sometimes necessary to oiset theeffect on the direction of travel of the machine of the altered anglesof incidence of said rudders ory ailerons because such alteration insaid angles of. incidence, if not compensated for, will cause themachine to turn about its vertical axis. Under such conditions thedesired compensation can be eiected by slightly moving the lever 14 inlthe proper direction.

While I have illustrated my invention as applied to aeroplanes with twoold and well known types of lateral,stability-maintaining devices, itwill be understood of course ,that I do not limit myself to the use ofmy Vimprovement with such devices, and that I may use the same inconnection with any suitable arrangement for controlling either lateralor longitudinal stability.

I` claim: i

In a iyinof' machine, a pair of normally inoperative 'brakes orspeed-retarding devices arranged symmetrically with respect to thelongitudinal axis of the machine, said devices each comprising astationary rod, a barrel surrounding said rod and movable thereon, afabric-covered frame-work, and ribs connecting said framework to saidbarrel; a lever under the control of the operator, and cords connectingsaid barrels respectively with said lever, whereb the operator may bringeither member o said pair into operative or braking position.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name-this 5th day ofApril i i910. y Y y JAMES MEANS.

Witnesses: I

E. B. ToMnINsoN, Gmo. K. 'WoonwonTH.

